A New Perspective
by Drollittle
Summary: Years after good has won over evil, a few witches and wizards still have to learn to see each other with a new perspective in order to realize the truth. (These fit into my A Lily by Any Other Name story but are written from, well, a new perspective).
1. In Lily's Eyes

In Lily's Eyes

Third year was busy: there were new classes, more advanced skills to learn, trips to Hogsmeade, and best of all, James as team captain had made Lily Gryffindor's seeker. Liam Finnigan was brought on to replace their cousin Fred as a beater and Lily discovered how convenient it was to have a beater with a crush on her. James had to yell at Liam to defend the chasers sometimes, but Lily hadn't had a bludger within ten feet of her all season and she appreciated it. Liam had joined her company of friends and cousins on all the Hogsmeade trips, which was fine with her. He was cheerful and made a good snowball-fight opponent. There was another boy she would have liked to come also but he claimed he needed to stay at the castle to do homework.

Ever since she met him on the train, Lily had been fascinated by Tony Dolohov. He had obviously had a difficult childhood, and she saw the same kind of toughness mixed with sadness that she sometimes saw in her dad. She liked Tony because he was polite, and inside his frightened and reclusive shell, he seemed friendly, gentle and steady. He was as much unlike the infamous Dolohov Death Eater as a thunderstorm and a thimble. She wasn't sure how other people couldn't see that.

Sometimes she felt like shouting at people, "he's just Tony! He didn't Cruciatus your aunt!" But it wasn't that simple. In Quidditch, players could attack each other and still come out of it best friends, but in real life friends get hurt and defensive, and that made things difficult. So, without lecturing her friends, she tried to show them that she was willing to accept Tony so they would eventually accept him too.

Tony didn't make it easy. When they were alone he seemed so happy, she knew he didn't dislike her. There were even times when it seemed like he loved her, but the next moment he would shut her out. He seemed willing to receive her friendship but not to reciprocate it, and that became exhausting. She knew it was hard for Tony to have people associate him with his father, but she didn't understand the depth of his self-doubts.

Then Professor Fenwick brought a boggart to class.

Lily didn't know what fear the boggart would choose for her. She wasn't bothered by spiders, snakes, or heights. Dad had started teaching her to make a patronus before she even had her own wand. Maybe the boggart would turn into Rita Skeeter...that would make things easy, because Lily wouldn't even have to change it to make it ridiculous.

After Liam's speeding bludger met its squishy defeat, she stepped forward. She recognized Dad's hero, Albus Dumbledore...glowing like she imagined from the story of the Deathly Hallows. He told her the train would leave her there, at the deathly station, because she had taken the easy life that was handed to her and never stood up for what she knew and loved. His words made her feel empty. To be forever alone, unable to move forward because of her own unwillingness to give. Yes, that was Lily's worst fear, but she reminded herself that the current task was the boggart. She remembered another story about Dumbledore...

Most of the other students succeeded against the boggart, with three or four exceptions when Fenwick stepped up and took care of the boggart for students who were overwhelmed. As Tony too often did, he came up last looking apprehensive.

When the boggart turned into something like her own dad's evil twin, angry at Tony for daring to speak to his daughter, Lily felt disoriented for a few seconds. Then she began to understand, that her friendship must mean more to Tony than she realized if being denied it was his worst fear. Did he shy away from her because Tony himself believed what people said about him—that he was like his father?

Tony stood paralyzed. Lily wondered why Fenwick wasn't coming up to help him, and then she saw that the Professor seemed to be stuck in some kind of inner conflict herself.

They had to see the real Harry Potter—a normal wizard with a life, weaknesses, and a definite mischievous streak. She pictured one of her favorite memories of him, and cast the spell: "riddikulus!"

Everyone was delighted by the story of the great Auror making himself puke on the Minister of Magic's desk just to get out of a meeting, but the boggart was focused on Tony. Lily watched him; if he wasn't amused, it was no good.

His smile was fleeting, like a glimpse of a golden snidget in a thick forest—there and then gone. Lily thought if she could catch that smile and keep it, it would be more thrilling than any snitch she had ever caught.

oOo

Thanks to lindahoyland (author of some excellent LOTR fanfictions) for pointing out a typo. Specifically, a whole duplicated paragraph. How did that paragraph sneak in twice, I would like to know?! Riddikulus...


	2. Teddy's Trial

**Note: please tell me if anything doesn't make sense! **

On such a clear lukewarm night he couldn't use the weather as an excuse to go sit in The Three Broomsticks, so Teddy did the responsible thing and paced up and down high street, even though he was going on two hours of sleep.

It had already been close to midnight last night when the Tyne and Wear Tuba Trolls concert ended. Then he had brought Victoire home, but walked by the water with her instead of going back to Grandmother's to sleep. He had brought up the word 'marriage,' but her reaction was not exactly what he had hoped for.

Now he was counting down the two remaining hours of this Hogsmeade patrol shift. They gave the newly certified aurors mundane patrols like this. If anything interesting happened, he was expected to tap his badge to send an alert to headquarters for backup. Of course, nothing was going to happen in Hogsmeade; he would have liked an opportunity to hex someone, but it didn't look likely.

Teddy headed up toward the shrieking shack. He shot a gust of wind at the path in front of him, not in the mood to crunch through a pile of leaves. Then he heard a thump, and a sudden bellowing yell from inside the shack.

The shack was not haunted; he was well informed of that. He broke into a run towards it, and heard a raspy voice inside yell, "_stupify_!" Teddy decided he had better use a stealth charm, and his footfalls on the crunchy ground became silent. He approached the walls of the old house. There was a crack at the bottom of one of the boarded windows, and he saw an eerie green glow, which came from a potion in a cauldron. Two figures in black cloaks stalked around the scene, a stupified boy lay in a crumpled heap to one side, a girl was held a foot above the air, her arms pinned in the consuscipio leviosa jinx, and a boy was standing in a diamond on the floor.

The shorter cloaked figure spoke in a raspy voice. "Good, now keep being careful. Remember we have the girl in our power. You have your father's chin, by the way, Dolohov."

_Dolohov_? Teddy thought fiercely. He had heard there was a son of the death eater who killed his father attending Hogwarts the year after he graduated. Harry hadn't given much credit to Teddy's concerns, even knowing the Dolohov boy was in his little Lily's year. Suddenly Teddy recognized the girl.

The taller figure croaked, "The potion you see will give us, all three of us, great power. With the blood of two and the death of one it will be complete. We will be able to free our friends, your father and others, from Azkaban and take our revenge."

Teddy stumbled away from the hut, anger pounding in his ears. Only three feet from the wall, however, he was stopped by an invisible barrier. He stepped back. If he pushed against the barrier whoever was casting it might notice. Teddy cast a quick silencing charm over himself.

His auror's training had taught him to get in control of himself before rushing in, and he knew he ought to send an alert for help. He reached, not for the badge, but into his pants pocket for a small bag that held a two-way mirror.

"Harry! Harry, I need you!"

Teddy spoke feverishly as soon as he saw his godfather's face appear, "Lily is in danger! In the shrieking shack, lines drawn on the floor and a potion. They're talking about killing someone!"

"Who is, Teddy?" Said Harry, while in the mirror Teddy could see that he was grabbing his things and motioning to Ginny.

"The Dolohov boy, and two others. They have Lily! There is a shield, so you won't be able to apparate right in."

Harry said, "we're coming."

Looking down the path, Teddy saw Harry and Ginny both apparate. Far enough away that their entrance wasn't heard, but a quick sprint up. Harry placed his fingertips against the outside of the shield, then said something to Ginny and they ran to opposite sides of the house. They both leaned gently against the barrier, and in a moment were through.

Harry looked in the slit of the window. "There's no dark magic." He said.

"What?"

"If it really was what it looks like, there would be a strong sense of evil magic." He held his hands up as if feeling the heat from a campfire. "No, nothing."

Ginny relaxed a little. "Let's listen." She suggested and the three of them, under a silencing charm, peered into the dark shack.

One of the dark cloaked figures was walking, or gliding, around the room and talking, "...make our potion more potent. Giving it willingly would be very painful, but after taking a small cup of blood from those two, we would have to let all three of you go free. We would alter your memories, and you Dolohov, the last of the pure Dolohov line, could live your life as a muggle. It would be a disappointing fate, but we will let you decide." The raspy voice ceased and there was silence.

Harry seemed much too relaxed for the situation. He asked Teddy, "where have you heard voices like that before?"

"I don't know. Are they vampires?"

"Definitely not."

Dolohov spoke, "tell me how this works. What power will this give you, exactly?"

"See?" Whispered Teddy. "He is helping them. I told you they shouldn't have let him into Hogwarts."

Ginny hissed, "Theodore Lupin!"

The shorter one scoffed, "That doesn't matter. We will succeed no matter what you choose, so make your choice."

Harry prompted Teddy again, "and the way the taller one walks, where have you seen that before?"

Dolohov said, "If I give it willingly, your power will be stronger? Significantly?"

The tall one said, "Yes."

"I dunno..." Teddy replied to Harry, "it almost looks like stride-glide stilts from Weasley's Wiz—oh, and the voices, rasp-berry sherry!"

Dolohov continued, "But if you have to take it, and I die, then it would be weaker than Lily's, and only one of us can die...the others have to go free?"

The two might kill Dolohov? Maybe Teddy had been mistaken. He felt his anger begin to drain away.

"That is what we said." Answered the shorter one.

Then it took a small vial of red potion from inside its cloak and drank a mouthful.

"Me too." Croaked the tall one.

Harry ordered, "When I break through, disarm the two in cloaks, gag and then bind."

The cloaked figures shared the red potion.

Dolohov asked, "What is that? Who are you?"

Harry nodded "Rasp-berry sherry. And I think I know who they are, right, Ginny?"

"No more questions." Said the tall one. He aimed his wand at Lily. "Does the girl die? Or do you give us the power of your own magic?"

Teddy looked at Harry. Why was he waiting?

The Dolohov boy took a deep breath. "I will die."

The tall figure started, "What? We didn't say—"

"I am sure as dragon fire not going to let you hurt Lily, but I'm not going to give you more power than I have to, either."

Teddy shrank to think what he might have done if he had acted on his first impression of this boy. Harry was smiling faintly, but shaking his head. Ginny had her hand on Harry's arm.

"If you do get my father out of prison," little Dolohov continued, "tell him from me that he is disgusting, and that if he goes near mother I will come back to haunt him."

"Wow..." Teddy breathed.

"Ok, that's enough." Said Harry, and blasted through the door.


	3. An Auror Applicant

Harry jabbed his quill down, punctuating, and indeed almost puncturing, a note to the new minister's secretary. No, he was not going to withhold information from the press about the Marcus Flint case. Flint was suspected to be behind two Apothecary break-ins, had been seen in Knocturn Alley, and until he was caught people needed to be on guard.

Harry's doormouse squeaked.

"Come in!" Harry called.

A thin, dark-eyed eighteen-year-old opened the door slowly. Today he reminded Harry more of the frightened six-year-old boy they had found in Siberia than of the pleasant young man Lily had been bringing to dinner. Harry knew why. He brought a small file out from under his correspondence with the minister's secretary.

"Sit." It came out sounding more like a command than an invitation, and Harry told himself to tone down what Ron called his "head auror aura" for a few minutes.

"Yes sir." The boy said and quickly sat in the chair across Harry's large holly wood desk.

"Tony, how is your mum doing?"

"She's well Mr. Potter. Thank you, sir."

Harry didn't tell Tony to stop being so formal. It would only make him more nervous. Eventually Harry wanted Tony to be completely at ease with him but at present he didn't mind keeping Tony on edge a little. Lily had never been out later than eleven-thirty and Harry liked it that way.

"I have been wanting to talk to you before today, but I saw the results of your dueling preliminary evaluation and it makes things simpler." Harry glanced at the last page in the file folder marked "Antonin A. Dolohov."

Tony just looked tense. A couple of memos flew into the office and landed on Harry's desk but he ignored them.

"Why did you want to be an auror?"

"I wanted to stop dark wizards, sir, help people and make the world safer."

"Hmm, yes, that is what you wrote in your application," Harry said, glancing at the file again, "but why did you feel like being an auror would be the best way for you to do that, compared with other career options?"

Tony said, "That _is_ what aurors do..."

Harry peered at Tony. He sensed confusion, which confirmed Harry's suspicion that Tony hadn't thought about other options very much.

"But for you, Tony, specifically? Lily has said your best subjects in school were Herbology, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures. We really don't use those skills much. As aurors we use more charms and jinxes, transfiguration, and defensive spells."

"I did get NEWTs in Defense, Charms and Transfiguration, sir."

From what Harry had heard, the kid had worked himself half to death studying and practicing for the NEWT exams.

"School is one thing, but in this work we have to act quickly, cast complex spells under pressure, at a second's notice. Your evaluator, Calhoun, wrote here that she cut you from training because your offensive spells lack speed and force."

"I can practice, Mr. Potter, I can learn it!"

Harry shook his head. "We are not discussing re-admitting you. Calhoun makes those decisions. Some skills are too difficult to train if you don't have the instinct. It's like Quidditch—"

"Quidditch?" Tony scoffed.

Harry gave him a stern look, but was actually pleased to hear Tony speak out and show more nerve than usual.

To Harry's greater surprise, Tony laughed. Then he bit it back. "Sorry, sir."

"What's funny?"

"Nothing...you reminded me of Al. I'm sorry."

"Reminded you of Al?" Harry was curious.

"Yes, um, when he was head boy he found Lily and me taking a walk when we were...we were supposed to be in history of magic. He looked at me just like that."

Harry enjoyed picturing the scene. "Right. Maybe we've been getting off track, Tony. It doesn't matter so much why you were cut as that you understand that it could be for the better. Lily has always wanted to be an auror, and I imagine that she convinced you to aim for that as well."

Harry could tell from Tony's expression that it was true. Lily's enthusiasm was infectious and she would have wanted to do everything together with Tony. Harry could imagine the two of them at Hogwarts, planning their future as aurors.

"But Tony," Harry continued, "that is Lily's perspective. Maybe you should think of careers from a new perspective. There are a lot of different choices and you can make a bigger difference if you use your own strengths and interests. No one will think less of you for not being an auror; even Lily will get used to the idea, I'm sure."

Tony nodded. "Professor Longbottom suggested teaching, herbology research or healing."

"Those sound good. What do you think?"

"...I think I might like healing." Tony said.

"Do you know anyone working at St. Mungo's?"

"No, sir."

"Well then, here." Harry wrote a name on a piece of parchment. "Susan Bones was a classmate of mine, and she is a senior healer now. Send her an owl."

"Alright, I will."

Harry considered offering to write a letter to recommend Tony, but he decided Tony didn't need the famous Harry Potter's endorsement. He could become a healer on his own merits.

Harry noticed more memos joining the pile on his desk, a few marked urgent.

"Thanks for coming up to my office, Tony."

Tony stood. "Have a good afternoon Mr. Potter."

"And, Tony, Lily said you were planning to go for dinner if you both passed the preliminaries." Tony nodded sadly, but Harry smiled and said, "You should go anyway."


End file.
